Curt Stern was a stalwart of the industry who worked tirelessly on many fronts. He started farming and then worked in most sectors of the industry from seed sales to sunflower processing. He was widely known in all sunflower circles and was often tagged to take leadership roles. Curt was a member of most of the National Sunflower Association committees and was a member of the NSA board of directors. A Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship was created in his honor by the NSA board of directors.